Forever
by imakemyownluck
Summary: Tags to Pyramid. *SPOILERS* Ray comes back after making his promises and Ziva finds out the truth about forever. Tiva. Sorta AU Some is OOC but since it is fluffy TIVA I hope it is excepted. Song Fic ish. just really based off the meaning of the song.
1. Things That People Say

A/N: here is a quick one shot, might be a two shot. The song lyrics are from **Lady Antebellem's** song **Thing People Say**.

Please review. The next chapter will probably be based on the song **Ready to Love Again **by **Lady Antebellem**.

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><p>"Ziva, I am sorry," Ray said running after her. He had just gotten back from his long trip. Of course he couldn't tell her where he was or what he was doing but, she had to understand. She had once lived that life too, right?<p>

"I do not want to hear it, Ray!" Ziva said angrily. She started to pick up her cloths that were scattered all over the floor. She ran into the bathroom and quickly got dressed. She looked in the mirror at herself. How could she be so stupid? She knew that it was too good to be true. How could she ever be that lucky? Her eyes were teary and she tried to calm herself down for a moment. She didn't really want to show him just how upset she was.

She stormed out of the bathroom and headed straight towards his front door.

"Ziva, please!" Ray said grabbing her arm, stopping her, "I can explain."

"Explain what?" Ziva said. "How you betrayed me? How you used me? LIED TO ME? Well if you can explain well then go right ahead!" She screamed.

He grabbed her hand. "It was never supposed to end this way!"

"You right." Ziva said a tear escaping her eyes,

**What about the plans that you left behind  
><strong>**The little white house by the railway line**  
><strong>The one we picked out, we even put the payment down<strong>

"It was supposed to be the time of my life. My American dream!" She said. "She said we were going to get married and buy a house. We even went looking for houses god dammit! How could you lead me on like that, KNOWING that this was how it was going to end? Was it fun?"

"Ziva, I didn't-" Ray started.

"Is she prettier than me? Is that it?" Ziva said tears now flowing down her face. "I bet she is perfect, isn't she. She is nice, and kind and likes kittens."

Ray shook his head. "Don't say that. You are both perfect in your own way."

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Ziva screamed in his face. "YOU GAVE ME THAT BOX AS A PROMISE, AN OBVIOUSLY EMPTY PROMISE, THEN GO BEHIND MY BACK AND SEE ANOTHER GIRL! HOW COULD YOU? YOU KNEW THAT I DIDN'T TRUST EASILY, AND YET YOU STILL DID IT."

"I told you," Ray said, "It wasn't supposed to end this way."

**What about the promise that you made**  
><strong>To stay with me till your dying day<strong>  
><strong>Said you'd never go away<strong>

"Did I ever mean anything to you?" Ziva whispered. "You promised me a forever." She wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled away from him. She walked straight towards the door, not planning on stopping for anything.

When she got to the door, she looked back at him. He had tears in his eyes. He had a sheet wrapped around his waist and his arms folded across his chest.

"You are just like the rest of them." Ziva whispered just loud enough so that he could hear. "A disappointment."

She got into her car and drove. She didn't realize where she was going until she arrived, even that didn't stop her. She ran up the apartment steps and straight towards his door. By now she had mascara stains and puffy eyes. She knocked on the door loudly a few times then stood there nervously, waiting for him to answer.

The door opened and Tony looked out into the hallway. Before he could say anything or even get a good look at the person knocking, her arms were around his waist and she was cring into his shirt.

Tony pulled her inside and shut the door with his foot. He lead her to the couch where she sat in his lap and continued to cry. Tony rubbed her back and tried to calm her down the best he could.

"He lied." Ziva choked grabbed a handful of Tony's tee-shirt and held it tightly in a fist.

"Who lied, Ziva?" He asked into her hair.

Ziva choked back a sob. She looked up at Tony. "Ray." She said then bowing her head, ashamed.

"Aw, Zi." He sighed holding her tighter. "I am so sorry. So so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Ziva asked looking up at him. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You never like him. You wanted him gone."

Tony nodded. "True." He said. "I did not like him, but he made you happy. Whenever you talked about him, your smile, god it just lit up." He looked away from her, off to the side. "I could never make you smile like that." he whispered.

Ziva's heart dropped. She grabbed his hand and made him face her, so that he was looking at her. "You never had to try." Ziva said. "It came naturally." She placed one of her hands on his cheek. "It always comes naturally. I never have to try around you. I can just be myself."

Tony lead over and kissed her cheek. "That is all I ever wanted you to be." He smiled.

"Gosh," She said wiping her eyes and trying to clear the makeup off her face. "I must look horrible."

Tony gently took her hand in his to stop her from cleaning her face. "You look beautiful."

"I shouldn't cry over him. He is not worth." Ziva said. "Someone once told me that the ones that make you cry are not worth it and the ones that are won't make you cry."

Tony ran his hands through her hair. "You don't have to tell me but, what happened?" He asked twirling a curl in his hand

Ziva looked down at her lap and played with her fingers. "Well, he came home last night and I picked him up from the airport. We went back to his place. I stayed over. There was a call about an hour ago that woke me up. It was a voice-mail on his home phone." Ziva said. "Her name is Taylor and she cannot wait for their date and other activities that I would rather not think about right now."

"Why did he do it Tony?" Ziva asked. "Why did he promise me all those things? Why did I believe him?"

Tony leaned his head on hers. "Because you loved him."

"Did I?" Ziva asked. "Because all I can ever remember was fighting. It was always a big extravagant thing. Nothing we did was ever easy. It was always expensive and planned."

"Zi, you look past those things when your in love." Tony said. "When you are in love, all you care about is being with that person. If Ray wanted it to be a planned vacation or something, you went, it was because you loved him and wanted to spend time with him. Yes you didn't care when or where but, that doesn't matter because you went anyway."

"Love makes you looked past the flaws. You know they are there. No one is perfect, but you looked past them and see the good, see the thing that make that person special." Tony said placing his hand on her cheek and making her looking into his eyes.

Ziva leaned into his head. "When did you become an expert in love?" She asked tilting her head.

"Someone lied to me too, Ziva." Tony said. "A person once told me that the hardest thing in life is watching someone you love, love someone else. They were wrong." Tony pushed her hair out of her face. "The hardest thing, is watching someone you love, love an asshole and not doing anything about it because they are happy and that is all you want for them."

"You love me?" Ziva asked.

Tony pulled her into a hug and held her against his chest. "I do." he said. "But don't rush your feelings. You are hurting. I understand. Take as much time as you need. We have forever."

**Are they just things that people say?**

_"Forever?" Ziva thought. That is exactly what Ray said, 'forever'. Did guys all go to the same school? They all make the same promises. _

_Are these just things that people say?_

Tony helped Ziva up and brought her to his bed room. "Lay down." He said. "It is 3:00 am. We both need sleep."

Ziva nodded and climbed into his bed and he went around to the other side. He left a good distance between them, trying to be a gentlemen but Ziva smiled and pulled him towards the center of the bed. She placed his arm around her waist and then put her head on his chest.

The feeling of being so close to him. His smell, the soft fabric of his tee-shirt, his skin they were intoxicating. It felt right? Good? Perfect?

It felt like forever.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Reviews?  
><strong>_


	2. Ready to Love Again

_a/n: please review_

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><p>Ziva walked out of her car and towards Tony's apartment. It has been about 3 weeks since she had broken up with Ray and since Tony has told her he loved her. She had not said it back yet, not ready to get back into a relationship that soon. She was surprised at how gentle and nice Tony was about the whole situation. He never pressured her to say anything, to commit to anything ; he was wonderful.<p>

Tony had planned a movie night at his house since it was Friday and they had the weekend off.

Ziva was scared that she would go back to the way she was. When she was with Ray, she was a totally different person. How could she not know that he was cheating on her? Why did she put up with his crap all the time and never stand up for herself when she was with him? She had almost broke down after Mike Franks died. She was weak. Different. Changed. She did not like the feeling of being helpless and alone. And that was how she felt. If Mike Franks died, who was to say that she wasn't next?

She was now ready to move on. Start something knew, better.

She walked up to Tony's door and let herself in with the key she had. Tony had given it to her so that she wouldn't have to pick the lock.

"Tony?" She said shutting the door and taking off her shoes and placing her things down by his door. When there was no response_, _she went straight towards the kitchen to where he usually was. She peaked her head in and saw him dancing around singing.

_"_Fly Me to the Moon, Let me play under the stars, Let me see what spring is like on...Jupiter and Mars_." _Tony sang grabbing beers out of the refrigerator and pulling out plates from his cupboards.

Ziva smiled and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back. He felt him jump a little then relax when he realized it was her.

"Ninja!" He smiled turning around so that he could face her.

Ziva laughed. "I'm not a ninja. Why do you keep calling me that?" She smiled.

"Come on Zi!" He smiled. "You can do anything. You can kill people with paperclips, and you say you are not a ninja."

Ziva smiled. She stood up on her tippy toes and put her nose against his. "Then I guess I am a Ninja, Huh."

Tony smiled and wrapped his arms around her and leaned down and planted his lips on hers. Ziva wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. She let her walls down and surrendered to the kiss. Tony smiled when he felt her relax against him.

Ziva rested her head against Tony's. She smiled brightly. Tony noticed.

"Someone is particularly happy today." Tony smiled bringing his hand up to her cheek.

Ziva leaned in and kissed him again.

"I am." She smiled brightly.

"Any reason?" He smiled against her lips.

Ziva smiled and nodded. "You."

"Me?" Tony said, intrigued.

"Lets watch the movie." She smiled turning away from him and going to his couch. She grabbed the beer off the table on her way. Tony smiled and followed behind her.

"The pizza should be here in a few." Tony smiled sitting on the couch next to her.

Ziva nodded and snuggled into Tony's side while he pressed play. Tony put his arm over her shoulder.

Ziva didn't pay attention to the movie at all. She was move focused on the man beside her. Tony. She was starting to lose hope that she would ever find love. Roy. Michael. Then Ray came along. She thought she finally found the one. But no. She ran from him and still felt like she was running. Never ending. Ziva thought about how when she finally went to Tony, after all those years of searching hard, love was right in front of her eyes. He had always been there, silently by her side.

After ten minutes, the pizza delivery boy arrived and handed Tony the Large peperoni pizza. Tony paid the boy and turned back to the living room. Ziva had gone to the bathroom and Tony ran to the kitchen to grab plates and napkins for them.

Ziva walked into the living room and Tony was already sitting on the couch, breaking the pizza apart and places some slices on plates.

"Here." He smiled handing Ziva a plate.

"Toda." She smiled biting into her pizza right away. She sat cross leg on one side of the couch facing Tony.

"What is the matter?" Tony asked.

Ziva looked up at him, confused.

"You are facing me." Tony said. "Aren't we going to watch the movie?"

"Well, I kinda wanted to talk first." Ziva said shyly.

"Okay." Tony smiled reassuringly. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Ziva took a breath. "Um.." she said nervously. She sat in silence trying to find the right words to say.

"You okay?" Tony asked placing his hand on hers. Ziva nodded and looked down at her pizza.

"Before...well, before I came to America I, I had all these walls, protecting myself. I didn't want to get hurt. People always seemed to disappoint me. After a few years...watching You, Abby, Gibbs, McGee, the family you guys had created...I started to want it too." Ziva said. "Michael offered me that. Then I found out he was using me. It hurt. A lot. Ray, Ray was supposed to be my permanent. I had finally opened up and was ready to begin a life. It all crumbled down in my face. I thought that it was the end...I mean, how many times do you almost get what you want, then have it taken away from you?"

"Zi?"

"Tony, you came into my life way before Michael and Ray. You were always there. Something permanent. When your car blew up, I thought I lost you... It hurt. I didn't want to feel like that ever again. Yet you stayed, then came to save me even after everything I put you through..." Ziva said looking up and into his eyes. "When I saw you, I was surprised. Yet I was angry. Why you? I now realize that you were my permanent. Anyone could have saved me and that would be the end. But no, it was you."

Tony saw a tear fall down her cheek. He reached over and wiped it away.

"I told myself that I wanted something permanent. So Ray fit that category. Now, I think I have found another man who fits it way better." Ziva smiled lightly.

Tony's smile turned into a frown._ 'Really.' Tony thought. 'Right under my nose. She slipped away.'_

Ziva's head turned a little to the side when she saw him frown.

"What is wrong?" Ziva asked, confused.

Tony huffed and placed his food down on the table. "What's wrong?" Tony said. "The girl I love is in love with another man, THAT IS WHAT"S WRONG."

Ziva let out a small chuckle and smiled. She scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Tony," She smiled. "It's you. You are the man that I love."

Tony smiled and brought his arms around her waist. He pulled her as close as he could and planted his lips on hers. Ziva wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.

_Ya I'm ready to feel now_  
><em> No longer am I afraid of the fall down<em>  
><em> It must be time to move on now<em>  
><em> With out the fear of how it might end,<em>  
><em> I guess I am ready to love again<em>

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><p><em>an: please review  
><em>


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